Empire and Conquest
by Neo Pryde
Summary: Hundreds of years after the Third World War, and a parallel shift of events, the Terran Empire is mighty and prosperous. This all changes once the Humans meet their greatest foe...the Shadows. Note: Parallel Storyline to Prelude to Destruction.


Empire and Conquest

_Accessing Lumari Temporal historical file 901-822-A…_

_Subject: Humans and the Rise and Fall of the Terran Empire._

_Loading…. Done._

WARNING: Temporal anomaly, date and location unknown.

Classified Imperial Record 901-822-A.

Space. Its vastness has attracted great conquerors and inventors, scientists and admirals, ever since the first caveman looked up into the sky and saw the stars.

War. It has been in our genes since man picked up a club and fended for himself. War has never died down, and it still hasn't, even with man's journey into the outer reaches of space.

Ever since the Cold War's famous Space Race between Russia and the United States, humans have desired to combine their two greatest dreams: space and conquest. Certain events have had notorious effects in our history, and in the history of other Universes. From records picked up in parallel universes, temporal analysts have asked: "What if 9/11 never happened? What if the Gulf Wars never occurred? How would the world be different?"

With the Cold War scarcely a decade over, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's dreams of power were finally realized with the completion of their nuclear weapons program. With the firing of an Iraqi nuclear missile at its smaller neighbor, Kuwait, and with tensions high around the globe, World War III was sparked.

Millions upon millions were killed in this unconventional, long, and bloody war. Entire countries were laid to a pile of nuclear waste. Bodies of the rotting dead could be found across the entire length of the Sahara Desert. For many without nuclear weapons, terrorism was their only chance, their only way they could survive.

The disaster and tragedy of 9/11 as the Terran Consortium of our Universe would remember it was multiplied a thousand times as the land of the free, the United States, was bombed with planes, suicide bombers, and weapons of mass destruction.

Survivors of the war would live to tell their grandchildren the horror of the days, and the harrowing events that occurred. Of the sleepless nights that they spent hiding in bomb shelters as millions died above them: their screams haunting their nightmares.

Fearing Armageddon, the warring nations decided –no, _had _to- call for a ceasefire, putting an end to the global fighting. By war's end, an estimated three billion people died, nearly half the world's population. A billion more died in the resulting Global Depression, and by the AIDS plague, left unchecked during the war, running rampant across the Eastern Hemisphere.

Entire governments, ethnic groups, religions, and countries were destroyed, or on the verge of destruction. The world was in shambles, and the Terran Consortium was founded as a necessity for the survival of the human race. Their task was a hard one: rebuild the Earth.

Peace had been restored, until an amazing discovery shattered it.

Doctor Simon Fitzgerald Cornelius proved that FTL travel was possible, and showed his theories to the scientific community. At first he was ridiculed, but after many scientists swallowed their pride, they checked his work and found that he was indeed correct.

The Cornelius Drive works by reducing the drive to a low-level, which produces a small amount of anti-gravitons. The sensing equipment on the edge of the drive detects where the anti-gravitons are leading. Once a point is determined by the anti-gravitons, the ship then heads to it, using its Fusion-Ion Engines.

When the ship is close enough, or at the point of anti-graviton attraction, the Cornelius Drive is activated, which produces a tear in the Space-Time Continuum, allowing the ship to travel anywhere in a radius of ten light-years. The more power that is pumped into the Drive, the farther the range of the ship. Obviously, intense amounts of calculations are required prior to jumping, as the ship could materialize into an asteroid, another ship, a planet, or even the _sun _of the system.

The discovery caused uproar, fragmenting the Consortium as different fractions sprung up, raving for power, to be the first ones to colonize and conquer outer space. And so the Fourth World War was tipped off, with dozens of empires and nations springing up all over the ruined Earth.

After twenty-seven long years of fighting –but not on the scale of the Third World War- it ended, with the Greater American Empire victorious, founding the Terran Empire. Cleon I was named Emperor of Humanity, and took the throne. Cleon's benign rule, when compared to future emperors, brought Humanity untold riches, exploration, and colonies.

But when Cleon died abruptly in 2164, after a thirty-three year reign, a bloody coup was lit, sparking a deadly tradition. The coup almost fractured the Empire, but the second Emperor, Cleon II brought an iron-fisted rule back to Humanity. Never stopping, and never looking back, Humanity had partially achieved their long-sought goal.

With nearly a fourth of the Milky Way under human control, times were hard, bloody, but prosperous under the Empire. Galactic conquest would be achieved, until _they_ came…

Imperial Senior Fleet Captain Maximillion Simmons felt the full weight of his forty-two years as the main screen of the TES _Durandal _snapped to life. He felt mixed emotions of awe and fear as a large black ship cruised along on the screen. His fists clenched as he stood up from his command chair. In Simmons long service to the Empire, he never heard of _any _contact with an alien life form.

_A day that will go down in history with my name on it. _Adhering to Imperial Protocol, he turned to his com officer. "Lieutenant," he said to the Imperial Junior Grade Fleet Lieutenant on station, "open a channel to the alien vessel." He paused and thought for a moment, contemplating the black ship. "And raise weapons as well, they could be hostile."

The young Fleet Lieutenant nodded, and typed rapidly at his console. "Rail-guns armed. Chiron missile safeties off, defense grid on-line," the young man said. "Sir, we're receiving a transmission from the alien vessel."

Captain Simmons adjusted his red and gold uniform, the insigne patch of the Terran Empire –a blue and gold Earth with a sword running down the middle- shining in the light. "Open it." The speakers in the bridge clicked on, the screen turned black. A long series of robotic buzzes sounded, as a black on black figure with red eyes moved across the screen.

Suddenly, a loud screech penetrated the bridge speakers, and the officers were forced to cover their ears. After a short few seconds, the screech died down, the speakers clicked off, and the screen returned to the view of the cruising, black ship.

"Sir," came the voice of the Fleet Lieutenant, "alien ship is changing course. Detecting a power surge."

Simmons clenched and released his fists, alien or not, he was eager for a fight. "Fire all weapons, Lieutenant. Helm, give me flank speed."

"Aye, sir." The _Durandal _lurched as the ship's massive Ion engines flared to life. Streaks of blue, and pinpricks of dozens of missiles flung themselves at the alien ship. Explosions dotted the hull of the black vessel as the _Durandal's _weaponsconnected with the craft. Simmons grinned.

"A direct hit," said he. The smoke cleared, and Simmons' second-in-command, Commander Robins pointed.

"Wait, Captain, look." The black vessel was unharmed. Simmons gasped.

"Lieutenant!" Simmons spun around and firmly gripped the officer's chair. "Send a message back to Earth. We have to-" The officer was typing rapidly as the Captain spoke, but was suddenly cut off. A hellish-purple ray lanced out from the black vessel at the _Durandal_.

It connected with the nose of the _Durandal, _and worked its way up, splicing the ship in half. After a few seconds of continuous fire, the beam hit the fusion reactor, and the TES _Durandal _went up in nuclear flame. The mysterious alien craft streaked through the debris and disappeared.

A few days later, an Imperial scout ship received word on the _Durandal_ and her horrifying encounter. She passed the message along to Earth, and now, Emperor Cleon IX rubbed his temples as the rest of the Imperial Joint Chiefs and Advisory Boards swept into the Throne Room.

The room was abuzz over the spectacle, as they watched the little damage the _Durandal _did, and the following destruction of the Deimos class-destroyer. Lord General Victor Kammings spoke over the rest. "These new threats, these…" he looked at the official Imperial intelligence reports in his hands, "these 'Shadows' have caused quite an uproar with the Council. We must react now, before they strike at the heart of the Empire!"

Minister of Imperial Science and Technology, Archimedes, replied, "If I may, Lord General, I disagree. These Shadows seem rather advanced. Logic dictates that a frontal assault on them would lead to the destruction of our fleet, and I'm sure that's a catastrophe everyone here wants to avoid." The Fleet Admirals, Lord Generals and Ministers in the room nodded.

Kammings did not keep his temper in check. _One of the finest military minds in the Empire being lectured at by a _schoolteacher! "But the advances we've made on the _Europa-"_

Archimedes interrupted the Lord General, and continued, "Are no match for Shadow technology. You've seen the data, look at what it did to the _Durandal!" _Archimedes turned to face the Emperor and bowed. "Highness, I suggest we send in a small scout team, we might be able to assess their capabilities, and rally an organized defense."

Lord General Kammings was furious now. Not only was he being lectured at and interrupted by a schoolteacher, but a _cowardly _one to boot! If only murder was legal…"You coward! How _dare_ you talk like that to a senior member of the Joint Chiefs! Only by attacking them do we have any _hope _of winning!"

A debate broke out in the room. Cleon IX raised a hand, shouting above the others, and bringing a quick end to the debate. The room fell silent as his Majesty Cleon IX, Emperor of All Humanity, spoke. "Enough! This is getting nowhere! Minister, as 'logical' as it maybe, it isn't the _correct_ method of defeating the Shadows. I'm sure they do not have the will that we do, and that's what's important."

Archimedes bowed at his Highnesses' words; face flushed red, but containing his anger in front of the Emperor. Kammings simply beamed at his defeated foe, nodding in agreement with the Emperor.

"Sire, I have the Third and Fifth Imperial Fleets standing by at the Jumppoint to where we encountered the Shadows. They should be arriving…" Kammings looked at a timekeeper on the wall. "Now." His Highness, and others in the room turned to the far wall of the Throne Room, at the large conference-sized view screen as it flashed to life: projecting fully holographic 3D images.

Below the holographic image were the time, coordinates, and ship that the images were being sent from. There was a slight delay at the time, one problem with sending a signal through multiple wormholes at light speed. However, what was on the screen made the entire room fall silent.

Hundreds of the same Shadow vessel that destroyed the _Durandal_ a few days ago was on the screen, and they approached the Terran fleets. Klaxons sounded behind the camera, and a deep baritone voice of what was probably the Fleet Admiral or Lord General in charge of the force shouting commands.

Hundreds of fighters, missiles, and rail-gun rounds shot through the night sky, at the advancing Shadow fleet. The weapons connected, but the Shadows shrugged off the damage, and fired their own, deadly purple rays. The camera suddenly snapped off, and the realization of the power that their enemies had hit Kammings, Archimedes, Cleon, and the rest of the Joint Chiefs like a knife to the heart.

One of the Fleet Admirals spoke, breaking the solemn silence of the room. "We're doomed." The others in the room, even the Emperor, in defiance of hundreds of years of Imperial tradition, agreed with him.

A few months later, the Shadows launched a massive, and overwhelming attack on the outer colony of Beta Durandai V. The Imperial forces stationed there were quickly obliterated, as the Shadows targeted the colony itself. Reports from scouts brought the estimated dead at 200 million.

The Shadow War had begun.

The Humans fought back, as ferociously as the Shadows destroyed their fleets. There was a sense of honor, courage, and impending doom in this time frame, as the human race was losing the war.

Temporal analysts notice that in most tales like this, a great super-weapon is discovered, redeeming the race.

There is no such super-weapon in the Shadow War.

Above the dark green form of the planet Sirius, a force of 1,000 ships, the Shadow's finest plowed over the burning planet. Swift corvettes raced ahead of the main fleet, followed by sleek frigates, and destroyers bristling with weapons. Behind them, the lumbering cruisers, carriers, battleships, dreadnoughts, and a massive juggernaut, the pinnacle of Shadow technology trailed.

The fleet lingered for a few moments, savoring the victory and the destruction they had caused. Two billion humans lived on Sirius, and now they were a pile of atomic ash and dust. It was time for the final goal: Earth.

Ship after ship phased out of normal space as they entered the non-Einsteinian realm of Cornelius space for a split second before phasing back to normal space. In an instant, the thousand ships of the Shadows had jumped nine light-years, and now below them lay the blue-green planet, Earth. The Shadows quickly moved their fleet into the shadows of Earth's only moon, Luna.

Radio chatter filled the area near the Shadows, but was quickly silenced as a heavy cruiser destroyed the lone Imperial outposts on the dark side.

Around Earth, hundreds of ships swarmed around the so-called cradle of Humanity, supported by dozens of orbital battle stations: ready to turn their Ion Cannons on anything that dared defile their home world.

In the center of the Terran armada, Imperial Grand Admiral Han Kerensky sat on his golden command chair –more like throne, as the Imperial technicians who had designed it noted- on the pride of the Imperial fleet, the dreadnought TES _Terra_. Cleon IX had suffered an unfortunate demise days earlier, and Kerensky was to become Emperor…

If Humanity was to have a future, that is.

Kerensky had received reports of a Shadow fleet at Sirius and Alpha Centauri, and he ordered all the surviving Human vessels to Earth, in one last, desperate battle.

Commander Lin Hadoki turned in her chair to Kerensky. "Admiral, sensors are indicating a flux in graviton and anti-graviton particles near the edge of the Moon. We've also lost contact with listening outpost Gamma."

Kerensky nodded. "Send an Explorer-class vessel to scan the area."

Hadoki typed away a few commands. "Done sir, _Intrepid _is enroute. ETA ten seconds."

"Give me a visual link-up with the _Intrepid, _Commander."

"Done, sir." On screen, the blackness of space appeared, with the gray-white Luna in the center. Behind the Moon, a thousand Shadow vessels appeared. Frantic shouts sounded behind the screen as the Shadow fleet charged their familiar energy weapons, and destroyed the _Intrepid._

Kerensky looked at the static that had replaced the Shadow fleet in complete and utter horror. Earth wouldn't stand a chance, and the crew of the _Terra_ realized that. The Shadow fleet moved out from the dark side of the Moon –Kerensky noticed something ironic about that, shadows hiding Shadows- and charged their weapons.

Kerensky got a grip on himself, and leapt out from his command chair. "Order the fleet to fire, launch fighters! Captain, charge the Ion Cannon! Helm, give me flank speed, bearing 1-9-1. Order the _Emperor _to follow."

The officers at the helm, barely twenty years old, responded with the flat tone that was consistent with the Navy. "Bearing 1-9-1 at flank speed. Aye, sir."

Commander Hodaki listened intently as radio chatter came through her receiver. "Sir, the _Emperor _has responded, she's charging her Ion Cannons."

Kerensky nodded. Out of all the weapons in the Terran arsenal, only the Ion Cannon, nuclear missile, and EMP torpedo seemed to have an effect on the Shadows. The Ion Cannon was a new weapon, reserved only for ships larger than cruiser, and there was a reason why. The Ion Cannon completely drained a ship's Jump power, and usually left her on her reserve reactor.

The bridge lights dimmed, as the massive power required for the Ion Cannon was concentrated at the bow of the _Terra. _The bluish ray lanced out from the _Terra _and struck a Shadow carrier. It connected with the bow of the ship, penetrated the hull, and the carrier exploded.

Off the portside of the _Terra_, her sister ship _Emperor, _fired her Ion Cannon as well, destroying a heavy cruiser. Both ships were sitting ducks for a few minutes, as their fusion reactors recharged the craft. Near the _Terra_, a light carrier and a dozen corvettes were vaporized as a Shadow dreadnought swooped past the line of Terran ships, heading straight for Earth.

The battle stations in Earth orbit powered up their immense Ion Cannons, and targeted the dreadnought. For a few seconds, the dreadnought absorbed the damage, but hull buckled and melted. In a flash of white light, the dreadnought was gone.

"Power restored, Admiral," said Hadoki.

"Good," Kerensky said. "Move us parallel to the _Emperor, _we can't let the Shadows get to Earth."

The COM crackled. "This is Fleet Admiral Harvard. We are engaging the enemy!"

Kerensky dashed up to Hodaki's console, and snatched the receiver from her. "Negative Admiral! Fall back! We need to stay in the protection of the Ion Cannons!" But it was to late, as a dozen heavy carriers, cruisers, and battleships, and a hundred corvettes charged at the Shadow fleet.

The beams of the flagship quickly cut through Admiral Harvard's fleet. The surviving ships of the Shadow fleet moved in, and targeted the platforms. Off the stern of the _Terra, _the TES _Emperor _exploded. All around the _Terra_, humans fought and died.

"Admiral! Our engines have been knocked out!" shouted Hodaki as the _Terra _buckled and shook. Kerensky watched in silent horror as a Shadow frigate appeared in front of the _Terra, _and fired its beam…

It was only a matter of time until the Empire, and with it all Humanity, fall. Three years, seven months, and twenty-one days ended the short lived reign of the Terran Empire, and the Shadows arrived at Earth: vaporizing the last traces of Humanity.

For too long, the Humans focused on destroying themselves, and in turn, forgot about the wrath of the rest of a deadly, and unforgiving Universe.


End file.
